Project? ?Summary The? ?UCSC? ?Diversity? ?Action? ?Plan? ?at? ?the? ?University? ?of? ?California,? ?Santa? ?Cruz? ?originated? ?in 2002? ?as? ?a? ?sub-award? ?of? ?the? ?UCSC? ?Genome? ?Browser.? ?On? ?the? ?UCSC? ?campus,? ?our? ?DAP? ?is known? ?as? ?the? ?Research? ?Mentoring? ?Internship? ?Program? ?(RMI),? ?a? ?research? ?education program? ?that? ?improves? ?equity? ?and? ?access? ?to? ?careers? ?in? ?genomic? ?science? ?by? ?increasing the? ?participation? ?of? ?underrepresented? ?minority? ?students.? ?The? ?RMI,? ?now? ?managed? ?by? ?the Genomics? ?Institute? ?Office? ?of? ?Diversity,? ?provides? ?mentored? ?research? ?training? ?and? ?financial support? ?for? ?underrepresented? ?minority? ?(URM)? ?students? ?in? ?both? ?undergraduate? ?and graduate? ?(pre-doctoral)? ?educational? ?training,? ?with? ?the? ?goal? ?of? ?preparing? ?and? ?advancing them? ?toward? ?successful? ?careers? ?in? ?genomic? ?science? ?or? ?its? ?ethical,? ?legal,? ?and? ?social implications? ?(ELSI).? ?Students? ?supported? ?by? ?the? ?RMI? ?are? ?assigned? ?to? ?a? ?faculty? ?research mentor? ?with? ?whom? ?they? ?train? ?10-20? ?hours? ?per? ?week.? ?Mentor? ?labs? ?may? ?be? ?in? ?any department? ?in? ?the? ?Division? ?of? ?Physical? ?and? ?Biological? ?Sciences? ?or? ?the? ?School? ?of Engineering,? ?provided? ?that? ?the? ?research? ?focuses? ?on? ?genomic? ?sciences? ?(e.g. computational? ?biology,? ?quantitative? ?sciences,? ?bioinformatics? ?and? ?technology development).? ?STEM? ?research? ?environments? ?may? ?be? ?wet? ?labs? ?or? ?computational? ?labs. ELSI? ?projects? ?are? ?usually? ?conducted? ?under? ?the? ?aegis? ?of? ?a? ?faculty? ?member? ?from? ?the Division? ?of? ?Social? ?Sciences,? ?and? ?commonly? ?approach? ?a? ?specific? ?aspect? ?of? ?genomics? ?in one? ?of? ?the? ?following? ?areas:? ?bioethics,? ?policy,? ?healthcare,? ?social? ?implications.? ?The? ?RMI provides? ?financial? ?support? ?in? ?the? ?form? ?of? ?scholarships? ?for? ?undergraduates? ?and? ?substantial fellowships? ?for? ?graduate? ?students.? ?In? ?addition? ?to? ?research? ?training,? ?the? ?program? ?offers academic? ?and? ?professional? ?development? ?workshops,? ?one-on-one? ?coaching,? ?and? ?career guidance.? ?The? ?program? ?exposes? ?students? ?to? ?the? ?culture? ?and? ?rigors? ?of? ?a? ?research environment? ?under? ?the? ?close? ?supervision? ?of? ?faculty? ?mentoring,? ?thus? ?enhancing preparation? ?for? ?and? ?success? ?in? ?graduate? ?school? ?and? ?beyond.? ?We? ?recruit? ?from? ?regional community? ?colleges? ?and? ?California? ?State? ?Universities? ?that? ?have? ?high? ?percentages? ?of students? ?from? ?low-income? ?and? ?underserved? ?populations.? ?To? ?ensure? ?successful persistence? ?to? ?degree? ?completion,? ?we? ?implement? ?retention? ?strategies? ?based? ?on? ?best practices? ?to? ?create? ?professional? ?support? ?and? ?programming? ?within? ?a? ?cutting-edge? ?research environment? ?that? ?provides? ?our? ?cohort? ?with? ?the? ?knowledge? ?and? ?tools? ?needed? ?to? ?advance to? ?meaningful? ?careers? ?in? ?genomics.